Ducks’ Ryan Kesler pumped up to face his former team

Ryan Kesler battles fiercely with opponents he doesn’t especially know.

So imagine Sunday night, when the Ducks center will line up against a slew of friends wearing the same colors of the Vancouver Canucks that were his colors earlier this year, and for 10 seasons before that.

“Obviously, I want to have success against that team,” Kesler said Saturday on the eve of what will be an early contest for the Pacific Division lead.

“[I’ve] got friends over there, and I’m competitive with my friends, so … [there’s] some bragging rights [at stake], two points we need. It’s personal.”

Kesler, 30, was traded from Vancouver to Anaheim on June 27 for a package that sent center Nick Bonino, defenseman Luca Sbisa and a first-round draft pick to the Canucks.

“Being with the team for 11 years, going what I’ve gone through with them and the city, it’s going to be … excitement,” said Kesler, focused on not expending all of his pent-up emotion early over a game he circled on the calendar as soon as he saw the schedule.

“I went there when I was 18, as a single guy, and left with three kids and a wife.”

In Vancouver, Kesler won the Frank Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward in 2010-11, when he paced the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final by scoring 41 goals and 73 points with a goal differential of plus-24 while on the ice.

He pointed to that season, “the hundreds of thousands in the streets,” as his most cherished memory.

As the Canucks slid out of playoff contention last season, and Kesler’s name was mentioned in March trade talks, it was time to go.

The Ducks, off to the best start in the NHL (10-3-2), were an ideal fit, given their need for a more physical, defensive-minded second-line center.

“He’s good in every aspect of the game — strong on the puck, works hard,” said forward Jakob Silfverberg, Kesler’s frequent linemate. “That’s when you’re at your best, when the guy next to you is working his [rear] off.”

The Kesler effect has been stark, contributing to the Ducks’ killing 19 of their last 21 penalties while improving their faceoff rate, with Kesler winning 56% of his.

“His intensity is contagious,” Ducks forward Devante Smith-Pelly said. “He loves to get in there, get dirty. You can tell he hates to lose, and knowing he’s been around the league, been in a Cup final, guys are willing to follow.”

Kesler is playing more than 20 minutes a game for the Ducks, and though he’s scored only three goals — with only one in the last 12 games — his defensive energy is part of the reason the Ducks’ goals-allowed average has been trimmed from 2.48 last season to 1.93.

“I would like to be on the scoresheet more, but it’s early and I’ve had new linemates almost every game — that part’s hard — but I’m starting to find a groove,” Kesler said.

Andrew Cogliano, another Duck off to a slow scoring start, said he’s seen enough from his new teammate without worrying about pucks striking the net yet.

“He makes us harder to play against, has made our team more physically imposing,” Cogliano said. “We won’t get the true benefit of him until the playoffs, and he’ll be the first to say it. He does things at both ends of the rink, shoots as hard as anyone in the league, plays defense, wins those faceoffs.

“In big games, hard games, he’s the one guy you want in the lineup.”

Sunday night versus Vancouver qualifies as a big, hard game.

“There’s no calming me down” for the Canucks, Kesler said. “I might need a couple days off after.”

TONIGHT

VS. VANCOUVER CANUCKS

When: 6 p.m.

On the air: TV: Prime Ticket. Radio: 830.

ETC.: Ducks right wing Corey Perry (11 goals) missed Saturday’s practice as his recovery from flu symptoms that’ve cost him two games continued. Also absent were defensemen Cam Fowler (lower-body injury suffered Friday) and Francois Beauchemin (flu). Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said there’s a “good chance” Fowler can play Sunday, pending an examination. Perry is probably out for Vancouver, “just too weak,” Boudreau said. As for Beauchemin, the coach said, “We’ll see how he wakes up.”… Bonino had seven goals and 12 points for the Canucks before Saturday night’s game against the Kings.